Hornets Finally Back In Action At Assembly Hall

After playing 15 of their first 17 games on the road, the Nashville Hornets finally played consecutive games in front of the home crowd at Assembly Hall for the first time this season. The Hornets played on the road for almost a month as they played eight straight games away from Assembly Hall. Before taking on Greenville, the Hornets had not played at Assembly Hall since December 14.  The Hornets defeated Greenville and DuQuoin this past week. Nashville will continue to play at Assembly Hall this week as they play in the NIT. The NIT began on January 14. The Hornets first game of the NIT is January 16 against Brentwood at 8 p.m.

The had little trouble defeating the Greenville Comets on January 8 as Nashville dominated early on their way to a 67-25 win. The Hornets led 15-0 before Greenville got on the board and led 22-2 at the end of the first quarter. Nashville got contributions from all over in the first. Bryce Bultman and Carson Parker each had seven points in the frame. Matt Anderson had six points in the first quarter.

The blowout continued in the second as Nashville outscored Greenville 12-7 to take a 34-9 lead into the locker room. The game was put away for good in the third quarter as Nashville outscored the Comets 22-9 and led 56-18 with one quarter to play. With the starters out of the game in the fourth, the Hornets were able to cruise to victory.

Coach Wayne Harre talked about finally playing back at home. “We have had so many tough games here. Mentally it is pretty tough on us. It’s nice to get out a good lead, just kind of relax. You talk about a tough road playing 16 out of our first 18 on the road, then the schedule that we had the last few games. I don’t think it gets much tougher than that, and they are all on the road. Five at Mater Dei, then we go to Pinckneyville, then we go Highland in the morning. That’s tough. Even before that, we had Carterville. It was really tough on us. It was good to get them back home, shooting on our rims.”

Carson Parker led the way with 17 points in the win. Bultman and Anderson were also in double figures. Bultman finished with 13 points. Anderson finished with 10 points. Tanner Bergmann chipped in eight points. Terry Pelczynski added with six points, followed by Kelton Harre with five points. Tristen Hercules scored three points in the win. Joe Morris rounded out the scoring with two points.

Snow could not keep the Hornets off the court on Friday night as they hosted the DuQuoin Indians. The game time was moved up to 5 p.m. due to inclement weather. After a slow start, the Hornets used a big second quarter to pick up a 67-52 win.

Nashville and DuQuoin found themselves right where they started after eight minutes of play, tied. Each team put up 14 points in the frame. Neither team gained a significant advantage as the largest lead in the first was just three points.

The Hornets took control in the second quarter, as a 13-0 run turned a three point deficit early in the frame to a ten point lead for Nashville. The Hornets would outscore DuQuoin 24-12 in the second quarter and take a 38-26 lead into halftime.

The two teams were again even in the third quarter, as each team put up 16 points. Bultman was huge for Nashville in the third, as he scored eight of Nashville’s 16 points. When the buzzer sounded at the end of the quarter, the Hornets held a 54-42 advantage.

The Hornets kept DuQuoin at bay in the final quarter of play, never letting them back within 13 points. Nashville’s largest lead of the fourth quarter was 17 points.

Bultman led all scorers with 26 points in the win. Four players overall were in double figures for Nashville. Parker finished with 15 points, and a team-high nine rebounds. Pelczynski knocked down three from behind the arc and finished with 13 points. Bergman scored five of this ten points in the third quarter. Anderson rounded out the scoring with three points.